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What does the electric chair do to your body?


The electric chair is a method of execution that uses a high voltage electric current to cause fatal damage to vital organs. First used in 1890, the electric chair was seen as a more humane form of capital punishment compared to hanging or firing squad. However, there has been much debate over the years about whether death by electrocution truly is swift and painless. The visible effects of electrocution on the body have also contributed to the controversy surrounding this method of execution.

How the Electric Chair Works

During an electrocution, the prisoner is strapped to a wooden chair with restraints covering their wrists, ankles, chest and head. A metal skullcap lined with a conducting sponge is placed on top of their shaved head. One electrode is attached to the headpiece, while another electrode is attached to the prisoner’s leg. When the switch is flipped, a high voltage electric current passes through the body between these two points. This current causes all the muscles in the body to rapidly contract.

The voltage is typically applied in two cycles. The first cycle lasts around 30 seconds at a voltage of 500 to 2000 volts. This current causes immediate unconsciousness, paralysis of the respiratory muscles and ventricular fibrillation of the heart. After the initial current is stopped and the body goes limp, the second cycle is applied for about 60 seconds. This second current causes extensive damage to vital organs like the heart and brain through thermal heating.

Visible Effects on the Body

Here are some of the visible ways that electrocution affects the human body:

  • Severe burning where the electrodes are attached. The skin can be charred black with third degree burns.
  • The intense muscle contractions may cause blood vessels to rupture and bleed.
  • Eyes sometimes pop out of the sockets due to expansion of gas and fluid inside the head.
  • The force of contraction may fracture bones, including the vertebrae.
  • Teeth are often cracked from the clenching of the jaw muscles.
  • Bladder and bowels may empty involuntarily as the muscles relax after death.
  • Body can swell from the thermal heating, stretching the skin.
  • Heart is frequently stopped in mid-beat from the turbulent electric currents.
  • Lungs can fill with fluid and blood from circulatory damage.

The degree of burning and trauma depends on the strength of currents used as well as the conductivity of the prisoner’s skin and electrolytes used. Modern electrocutions use lower voltages and conductive gels to reduce burning.

Does It Cause Pain?

Whether death by electrocution causes extreme pain and suffering has been debated extensively. On one hand, the initial shock applied should render the person unconscious almost instantly through electrical disruption of the brain and nervous system. This avoids pain perception during the subsequent tissue damage and heart fibrillation.

However, critics point to evidence that consciousness may still occur after the initial shock and that the prisoner experiences intense pain from thermal heating, contractions, and suffocation. Witnesses have reported smelling burnt flesh and seeing prisoners struggling against the restraints during execution. The potential for misapplication of the electric current may prolong the execution and conscious experience of pain.

Overall there is no consensus on what degree of pain someone may consciously experience during electrocution. But most experts agree that modern electrocution protocols are less prone to causing prolonged suffering compared to older methods.

How Does it Compare to Other Execution Methods?

The table below compares electrocution to other forms of execution on dimensions of perceived pain, time to death, and visibility of bodily damage.

Method Perceived Pain Time to Death Visible Trauma
Electric Chair Moderate to Severe 1-2 minutes Extensive external burning possible
Lethal Injection Low 5-18 minutes Minimal
Firing Squad Moderate Minutes External bleeding from bullet wounds
Hanging Moderate 10-20 minutes Bruising around neck, bulging eyes

Lethal injection is considered the most humane method. However, lethal injection has been criticized due to problems with administering the drugs properly. Electrocution stops the heart more quickly than lethal injection but has higher risk of visibly mutilating the body.

Controversy Over Botched Electrocutions

There have been many controversial cases where electrocutions were botched and resulted in prolonged, painful deaths:

  • 1983 – John Evans in Alabama took 14 minutes to die, required multiple shocks due to problems connecting electrodes.
  • 1985 – Alpha Otis Stephens in Georgia took 12 minutes to die with multiple severe burns.
  • 1985 – Horace Dunkins in Alabama required two 14 minute cycles to complete the execution.
  • 1989 – Jesse Tafero in Florida had a defective electric chair that caused flames to shoot from his head prolonging the execution.
  • 1997 – Pedro Medina in Florida had flames burst from behind his face mask during a poorly conducted execution.

These incidents have bolstered the argument that the electric chair can easily be botched and cause excess pain compared to other methods. They vividly demonstrate the severe burning that can occur.

Use of the Electric Chair Today

Use of the electric chair has declined substantially in the 20th century as other methods like lethal injection were adopted. It remains an option in only 6 states (Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia). The last electrocution in the US was in Virginia in 2013. Since 1976 there have been 163 executions by electrocution.

Today, the electric chair is largely seen as an archaic method of the past. Ongoing debate continues around whether its use constitutes unnecessarily cruel and inhumane punishment forbidden by the 8th amendment to the US constitution. There have been calls by human rights groups for outlawing electrocution and replacing with more modern and reliable methods. However, some states have kept it as a legal alternative if lethal injection drugs are unavailable.

Ethical Concerns Around Capital Punishment

Broader ethical issues around capital punishment itself also factor into the electric chair debate. Critics of the death penalty argue that it is unethical for the state to take a human life as retribution and that there are always flaws in the judicial process that risk executing innocent people.

There are also concerns around inconsistent application of the death penalty, which has disproportionately affected minorities and those who cannot afford good legal representation. From an ethical perspective, many believe that a flawed and unfair capital punishment system should be abolished altogether rather than just improving the methodology.

Proponents argue that the death penalty serves justice and is an important deterrent against horrific crimes like murder, rape, and child molestation. Public opinion on capital punishment has shifted back and forth over the decades but remains divided. Most countries around the world have abolished the death penalty as a violation of human rights.

Conclusion

In conclusion, death by the electric chair involves passing a high voltage electric current through the body to cause cardiac arrest, paralysis, and destruction of vital organs. Visible effects can include severe burning of the skin, damage to the skeletal system, and deformation of the body from muscle contractions and heating. There is debate around whether the prisoner feels pain during the electrocution process. Botched executions have demonstrated the potential for the electric chair to cause prolonged suffering when improperly conducted. Use of the electric chair has steeply declined over the past century and it is now seen as antiquated compared to lethal injection. Concerns around cruel and unusual punishment have led to calls for abolishing the electric chair. However, it remains an option for execution in a select few states. The electric chair is intertwined with broader ethical questions around the justifiability of the death penalty in the American legal system.